P&F Industries 6: Something Wicked This Way Chuggs
by EDD17SP
Summary: When Phineas takes the gang to 1910 for a Valentine's Day train trip in the Cascade Mountains, Doofenshmirtz unknowingly traps everybody in the snow and the gang finds themselves being stalked by a supernatural being. A great story for Railfans and Slenderman believers.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb or any of the songs used. Do not attempt any of the train operation described here at home. There is no guarantee it will work the way I wrote it and you'll probably get arrested.**

**This story is the climax of the "P&F Industries" series. The previous stories are: #1: The Mustang," "#2: El Camino de calle traviesa," "#3: Night on the Riviera," "#4: Baljeet and the Superchicken," "#5: Deep Sea Fishing For Barracuda," and "#5.5 Isabella's Gremlin of a Day and other stories." They all must be read, in order, to understand the events leading up to these short stories, especially #1 and the last chapter of #5.5.**

**P.S. You may have noticed that this story is rated "T" instead of "K+," with good reason. I can't tell you why without really giving away the plot, but, there is no strong language or suggestive themes. It's really good, though, so please read it! But, you've been warned.**

Chapter 1

It was February 28, 1910. For nine days, the Cascade Mountains had been pounded with snow. At times, the snow fell so hard and so fast that over a foot of the white flakes piled up in an hour.

The Great Northern Railway was struggling. The snow was falling faster than the rotary plows could remove it and loose snow drifts were quick to flood the cleared track. All rail traffic had come to a standstill.

Well, almost all rail traffic.

A pair of deer trudging though the deep snow froze and turned their heads toward the noise that echoed through the dense forest. The deep, throaty whistle caused by the escape of steam over a capped steel tube with a rounded hole cut in the side, was slightly muffled by the dense layer of blanketing snow. It called out a second time, closer now. Finally, the train rounded a bend perched on an outcropping of rock in the mountainside and the headlight cut through the black of night, illuminating the still falling snow. The deer scampered off as the slow, gentle _chuff chuff chuff_ of the approaching behemoth finally came within earshot.

The 4-6-2 Pacific Locomotive was a stereotypical flat black, the Great Northern Railway logo painted on the tender and the number 527 painted on the cab below the window. Ahead of the locomotive was the rotary plow and it's tender, the great blades as tall as the locomotive, tirelessly flinging snow off the tracks where it landed in great heaps between the bare trees. The train's consist was small, just two cars: a single baggage car, and a Pullman observation car, complete with a rear observation deck.

Thick black smoke poured from the smoke stack. The locomotive's 67 inch drive wheels were aided by a constant stream of sand from a tube positioned in front of each wheel, but grip still lacked. Any more throttle and the wheels would lose traction. Any less throttle and the rotary plow would become stuck in the snow, stalling the train's momentum. If the train stopped, it would be almost impossible to set it moving again.

Steve Marcis sat in the brightly lit cab in the engineer's chair, his head out the open window in the freezing air, one steely eye fixed on the drive wheels, the other on the buried tracks ahead. His right arm was leaning on the bottom of the window frame, his left gripped the throttle. Occasionally, the wheels would begin to slip, and Steve would twitch the Johnson bar in until the wheels regained traction. If the train slowed too much, he would open the throttle just enough to keep the train moving. The fact that they were climbing a 1.5% grade did not help matters.

"How exactly did we get stuck doin' this?"

Steve turned his head in response to Buford's question. The bully was covered in coal dust and sweat, leaning against his shovel to rest. "Phineas asked me if I would do it and I agreed."

"But how did _I _get stuck doin' this?"

"I volunteered you."

"What?!"

Steve didn't respond. He already had his head out the window again.

Buford stepped on the floor pedal that opened the firebox doors and tossed in another scoop of coal. That morning, Valentine's Day in their time period, Phineas had revealed that he had time traveled to 1910 to charter a private train with the Great Northern Railway for a romantic train trip through the mountains.

* * *

_That morning:_

"Why a train trip?" Baljeet asked.

"Well, we did a romantic cruise, and an airplane, so a train was all that was left," Phineas answered.

"Since when are trains romantic?" the Indian boy pressed.

"Well, I wouldn't say all trains are, but an old timey steam train on a snowy night in the mountains just has that type of feeling."

"Eh, who's a gonna operate that thar train?" Steve asked.

"Why are you talking like a Southern Canadian Pirate?" Buford whispered.

"I don't know," Phineas replied. "Why, do you want to?"

"Very much so. Where I grew up in Clayton, Delaware…it's a railroading town. I've always wanted to run an old steam engine, and I know how, too, from playing Microsoft Train Simulator."

"Well, alright, then! You're our engineer."

"Yes!"

"Now, I'll just use this new and improved teleporter to bring Candace, Jeremy, Stacy, Coltrane, and Jenny home from college and then we'll all time travel back to 1910."

"Let's get on with it, Dinnerbell."

* * *

Buford stood up and glared at Steve. "Hey, wait a minute! Phineas didn't ask you! You practically begged to do this!"

"Guilty as charged."

Buford slung some more coal into the firebox. "I sure hope everyone is having a good time back there without us."

"I'm sure they are."

"What do you think they're doing back there?"

"If I had to guess," Steve speculated, "They're staring at the snow in silence."

* * *

They were staring at the snow in silence.

It had been quite some time since everyone who occupied the plush Pullman observation car had all been involved in a Phineas and Ferb project. The list included Phineas, Isabella, Ferb, Baljeet, Ginger, Irving, Django, Adyson, Candace, Jeremy, Stacy, Coltrane, and Jenny.

Phineas and Isabella shared a seat at the front end of the car, but were not really acknowledging each other. Isabella sat by the window, staring at the dimly lit falling snow outside the slowly moving passenger car. She could see Phineas in the window reflection, and she was thinking about him. She couldn't quite understand him. Why time travel to the early 1900's, charter a private train, come back to the present, bring everyone back to 1910 for Valentine's Day saying that he had "a romantic adventure" planned, and then not pay any attention to her. In fact, no one in the car was really paying any attention to each other.

Half and hour ago, Phineas had unrolled the blueprints for the time machine that currently occupied the baggage car. He didn't really need to look at them, and he really wasn't looking at them. He had just placed the papers on his lap so it looked like he was studying them. In truth, Phineas was doing some hard thinking. He had been wanting to do something romantic for Isabella ever since they got on the train, but, not only could he not think of a good idea, but he was also trying to decide just how romantic he wanted to get. After all, he still had not decided on his feelings for Isabella. So, with nothing to say and nothing to look at, he unfolded the blueprints and draped them over his lap to give the appearance that he was doing something.

Ferb and Irving, the only two males on board without at least an apparent relationship, where sharing a seat with Jenny, the only single female. Irving had his laptop and, running from the battery, of course, they each had on a pair of headphones and where watching various clips of Phineas and Ferb's inventions that Irving had complied, by only Irving was actually watching the screen. Ferb and Jenny were both watching the snow drifting past the window, Ferb thinking about Vanessa, Jenny thinking about the wildlife that could possibly be out in the woods.

It was obvious that Candace and Jeremy would share a seat being, recently engaged, and they did so near the back of the car. They loosely held hands on the seat between them, as did Stacy and Coltrane across the isle, but they were not looking at each other. Only staring out the window. One seat in front of them, Baljeet and Ginger sat awkwardly, each almost scared to speak to the other. And so, they watched the snow fall.

Django and Adyson were the only ones on the train who were not staring blankly out the window. A couple for over a year now, they had been dating steadily, and everyone was quite positive that they would marry someday. They were playing cards on the seat. Since her time with the Fireside Girls ended, Adyson had begun a strange habit of never going anywhere without a deck of cards. Still, they did not speak, dealing, exchanging, and shuffling the cards silently.

Isabella traced the reflected outline of Phineas's triangle head in the window with her eyes. She admitted to herself that, yes, even though the interactions between herself and the one she loved were not exactly romantic, the general atmosphere of the ornate Pullman coach, combined with the dark snowy weather outside, was romantic.

_Whoa,_ Isabella thought, _I think I just saw something move behind that tree. _She scanned the forest but saw nothing. _Guess I'm just seeing things._

"Hey," Phineas suddenly said, breaking the silence and startling Isabella, "Where's Perry?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Perry had been sitting on the seat next to Phineas, but at the first opportunity, the platypus hopped off the plush cushion, strolled down the isle, and slipped out the back door onto the observation deck. He opened and closed the door so quickly, that no one even noticed the small gust of frigid air.

On the back deck, Perry stood up on his hind legs and placed his fedora on his head. His watch beeped.

"Good Morning, Agent P," Monogram's voice said. It never ceased to amaze Perry that his wrist communicator could pick up the signal from O.W.C.A. headquarters from anywhere and any when in the galaxy. He could talk to Monogram from other dimensions and other time periods. "We've picked up a temporal anomaly from Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, indicating that a time machine was used there."

Carl's voice came from off-screen. "From the size and magnitude of the anomaly, I calculate that Doof traveled to February 28, 1910, around 11:30 at night. I also have computed that he landed somewhere in the Cascade Mountains."

Perry could only face palm. How was it that anytime the boys took him somewhere, like outer space or the bottom of the ocean, that Dr. Doofenshmirtz would show up in the same area.

"We have no idea how to get you to 1910," Monogram said, "so your mission is to first _get_ to 1910, and then figure out what Doofenshmirtz is up to."

Perry saluted. He had no idea how to tell Monogram he was already there, so he let it go. The watch beeped off.

Perry climbed carefully on top of the railing that surrounded the observation deck and grabbed the first rung of the ladder built into the side of the rail car. Hand over hand, Perry climbed up to the roof. The wind up here was harsh, partly from the mountain's own height, partly from the speed of the train. True, the train could not have been moving at more than twenty-five miles per hour, but even that speed will create some wind.

Perry prepared his hang glider (which, as usually, appeared out of nowhere) pointed it's nose into the wind and let the gusts lift him up into the air. He didn't have much of a plan to find Doofenshmirtz, but he knew all he had to do was listen for the jingle.

Perry followed the tracks up the mountain, overtaking the lumbering train. Though buried in snow, they were visible enough to follow. The rails made a good guide through the mountains. The tracks vanished briefly as they disappeared into the Cascade Tunnel at Stevens Pass and Perry had to circle around to find where they reappeared. No sooner had he found the rails and resumed his course, Perry heard his nemesis's unmistakable jingle.

_Doofenshmirtz's 1910 Hideout!_

A small log cabin was tucked into the dense trees just up the mountain, a perpendicular and upward path from Perry's current direction. The agent platypus turned his glider up the steep mountain face.

Perry's webbed feet slid through the snow on the roof just as the wind picked up and the snow unexpectedly turned to rain. Perry had to let go of his glider to avoid being blown off the roof. The little hang glider tumbled through the air until the canopy was pierced by a tree branch.

Perry stumbled when he let go of the glider, and landed face down in the deep snow that blanketed the roof. His fur now coated with ice crystals and pelted with freezing rain, Perry shivered. He removed his fedora and knocked the majority of the snow from it. His teeth chattering, Perry trudged through the thick snow to the overhang over the front porch and climbed down the corner post and onto the porch.

Perry was freezing. He didn't usually break down Dr. Doofenshmirtz's door anymore, but today he couldn't have if he had wanted to. He knocked on the door and wrapped his arms around himself, trying desperately to keep warm.

The door opened.

"Perry the Platypus?! How did you find me?" Doofenshmirtz exclaimed.

Perry did not respond to the question. Instead, he looked up at Doof with a longing expression.

Doof's surprised expression softened. He looked at his nemesis and friend and stood aside. "Come in and warm up, Perry the Platypus. You look half frozen."

* * *

"Ugh!"

Steve pulled his head back inside the cab window.

"What?" Buford asked.

"It just started raining!" Steve exclaimed. "And here I thought it was too cold for it to rain! I think the rain feels colder than the snow!"

"At these temperatures," Buford said, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "the rain will likely freeze upon contact with a surface, especially the already fallen snow and the cleared steel rails."

"Why, Buford Van Stomm," Steve said with a grin. "Did you just use logic and science to speculate a hypothesis regarding our current situation?"

"If you ever tell the others, you're dead meat! And what was up with that sentence? Who are you, Baljeet?"

"To tell you the truth," Steve said, tightening his Ford Racing cap and sticking his head out the window again, "I'm not one hundred percent sure what I just said."

Steve gave two long blasts of the whistle as the train entered the Cascade Tunnel.

* * *

Doofenshmirtz wrapped a blanket around Perry and pushed the platypus into a plush armchair in front of a blazing fireplace.

Doof picked up a teapot that sat on a grate over the fire. "Would you like some cocoa, Perry the Platypus?"

Perry gave a half-hearted chatter and nodded.

As Doof poured boiling water from the pot into a mug containing cocoa powder, Perry glanced around the little cabin. It was neat and cozy, almost entirely made of wood. The entire cabin was one room, aside from a large closet to the side of the door. There was a twin bed in the far left corner and a kitchen counter and cabinets on the right wall. The only furniture besides the bed were a beautifully finished antiqued coffee table and a pair of armchairs that faced the fireplace. However, as was to be expected, there was something by the "kitchen" window that was covered by a white sheet.

Doofenshmirtz handed Perry the mug. Perry nearly dropped it from shivering so much.

"Let me take that thing, Perry the Platypus," Doofenshmirtz said, reaching for Perry's fedora. "It's soaked. I'll hang it by the fireplace to dry."

Perry was a bit surprised that Doof was treating him so well, but the more he thought about it, he really wasn't surprised at all. He watched Heinz hang his hat on a hook nailed to the mantel, careful not to hang it too close, and thought a bit about his nemesis.

The evil scientist had become both smarter and denser in the past few years. Doofenshmirtz had learned to recognize Perry without his hat, for one thing, but his evil plans were becoming more and more…insane. For instance, a few weeks ago, Doofenshmirtz had tried to release all the animals at the Danville Zoo, claiming his plan was to force the animals to stampede City Hall, destroying it, and while city officials were in disarray, he would just waltz in and take over. He failed to take into account, though, that stampedes only really occur with herds animals of the same species. Doof ended up being chased through the city by every animal he released after poking them all with a stick.

"Feeling better, Perry the Platypus?" Perry nodded. "Good, I'm glad." Doof sat down in the other arm chair and put his feet, comfortably housed in pink bunny slippers, up on the coffee table. "I bet your wondering what I'm doing here in the Cascade mountains in 1910." Perry nodded again. "Well, this is where I come to relax. It may seem like a lot of trouble to go back in time and everything, but the early 1900's was such a simple time, it was…I don't know…quieter, I guess. And here, just above- and by that I mean, almost literally _above_- The Great Northern right-of-way, it's so calming to listen to those old steam whistles echo through the mountains."

At that exact moment, the little train Phineas had chartered was entering the Cascade Tunnel, and Steve blasted the whistle twice. The deep-toned whistle echoed around the mountain, reaching Doof just as he punctuated his sentence, exemplifying his statement perfectly.

"See? So peaceful."

Perry nodded in agreement. Then he pointed at the covered object by the window.

"Oh, that?" Doofenshmirtz scratched the back of his neck nervously and stood up. "I suppose I might as well show it to you." He strolled to the inator and yanked off the sheet. "BEHOLD! Oh, darn it, I did it again. It's so hard to do this without yelling. Okay, I'm gonna try. I can do this. Deep breath." He did so and let it out loudly. "Okay, this is my Avalanche-redirectinator. And, yes, it is, at least sort of, an evil scheme." He gestured with his finger for Perry to join him at the window. Perry set down his mug and walked across the floor, the blanket still wrapped around him, dragging on the floor.

Doofenshmirtz opened a cabinet and produced a pair of binoculars. "Have a look, Perry the Platypus."

Perry gave him a skeptical look. It was far to dark outside to see anything.

Doof understood the look. "Don't worry, they're modern, from our time. Night vision equipped, and all that jazz, as the kids say."

Perry dropped the blanket and hopped up on the counter. He put the glasses to his eyes and peered out the window. Nestled on the mountain far below to the North East, about half a mile away, was a small railroad depot. Two trains were parked there, both under steam, evident from the weak columns of ash and steam rising from their smoke stacks, but obviously not going anywhere. The two trains were buried in at least five to seven feet of snow.

"That, Perry the Platypus, is the depot of the little town of Wellington. On this date, about-" Doof looked at his watch. "-twenty-two minutes from now, a lightning strike on the mountain top is going to loosen the fresh snow and trigger an avalanche. An avalanche that is going to clobber those two trains and push them off the mountain side."

Perry removed his eyes from the binoculars and gave Doofenshmirtz a worried look.

"With my Avalanche-redirectinator, I will redirect the avalanche slightly down the mountain, sparing the two trains and everyone aboard!"

Now, Perry's expression changed to one of surprise.

"Okay, I know it sounds like I'm doing something good by saving the lives of ninety-six people, but it's actually an evil plan."

Perry motioned for Doof to continue.

"One of those trains down there is a passenger service, the other is a mail train. The mail train is the one I'm really interested in saving, but they're parked side by side, so I don't really have any choice but to save both. Anyway, that mail train is carrying a few pieces of one-of-a-kind machinery. I'm not sure what they do, but if I save the train, I save the machinery, and if the machinery survives, that technology might be useful to me when we go back to our time period. And I know what you're thinking," he quickly added, "why don't I just go down there and steal it? Well, it's really cold out there, and I have really sensitive skin that dries out and gets real itchy in the cold, and I don't really want to deal with that. Plus, I don't know how big or heavy that machinery is, and I don't want to have to carry it back up here to my time machine…It just seemed easier to prevent the avalanche from destroying the trains."

And, as was customary, Perry rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Phineas?"

Phineas looked up at Isabella's question. "Yes?"

"I think…" Isabella hesitated. "I think…we need…to talk about…us. You know, together." She was whispering.

"Um…okay?"

"What was that supposed to mean?" There was a bit of agitation in her voice.

"It means that I don't really know why you think we need to talk about us."

"Excuse me?"

"I think we're doing just fine."

Isabella crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Okay. Fine. I'll buy it. Explain."

"Well, for one thing, I know your true feelings for me now. I didn't nine months ago. And we act like a couple even though we aren't one officially." Phineas was speaking very slowly, choosing his words carefully as though his life depended on them.

"But Phineas!" Isabella was yelling, but at a decibel consistent with whispering. "That's the whole point! We act like a couple, but I actually want to be a couple! Are you ever going to ask me out? You said it yourself! It's been nine months. Obviously, you like me enough to still be friends with me even though I'm head over heels in love with you, which probably means you're in love with me too, and you just don't know it." She suddenly became very quiet and a look of realization crossed her face. "But…but you said…you've been thinking about it."

Phineas nodded.

"And you always make up your mind about things so fast. Which means…if you still aren't sure…then…maybe…you aren't in love with me."

Phineas was unsure how to respond. "Uh…I, uh…"

Isabella stood and pushed past Phineas out into the isle. She walked to the front of the observation car, opened the door, crossed the vestibule between the cars, and entered the baggage car, closing each door behind her.

Everyone in the car looked up as they heard the door slide open and shut again. They looked at Phineas, wondering why Isabella had left.

Phineas did not return their stares. He was stunned, still staring at the closed door that Isabella had just exited through. He was not sure what had just happened.

The car was deathly silent.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A distant bolt of lightning was visible through the window.

"Ooh! It's nearly time!" Doofenshmirtz exclaimed. He wheeled the inator closer and opened the window. "Excuse me, Perry the Platypus."

Perry stood aside. While he didn't like the idea of changing the timeline, he also couldn't bear to let tens of people die when they could be so easily saved.

The area practically crackled with electricity. It was an all out lightning storm. Doof watched the top of the mountain through the inator's sight, waiting for the avalanche to start.

A massive lightning strike hit the mountain peak. An entire side of the mountain top seemed to break free, but really it was just the deeply piled snow coming loose. The already massive snow slide gathered speed and size as it rushed down the mountain toward the Wellington Train Depot. By the time it was halfway there, it was half a mile long and a quarter mile wide.

"Ah, ha! I've got you now!" Doofenshmirtz whispered menacingly, and he pulled the trigger.

A red beam of energy shot from the focuser and struck the fast moving snow slide. As if by magic, the avalanche turned, like it had hit a wall, and slid down at a forty-five degree angle to its original path.

Perry looked down below the avalanche. His eyes widened in horror. There, just a ways from the snow slide's path, was Phineas's charter train!

* * *

"Do you hear something?" Buford asked.

Steve listened intently, which was difficult to do over the myriad of noises the steam locomotive made. "I do hear something. Like a rumbling noise. Is that your stomach?"

"Nah." Buford was holding a half-eaten energy bar in his hand. He took a bite. "I don't know what it is, but it's getting louder."

Buford looked out the window on his side of the train, but saw nothing. Extending his head out the opening as far as he could, he first looked behind the train, then straight up in the air. When he looked forward, he saw a wall of snow about to engulf the train.

"Dude!" Buford screamed, pulling his head back inside, "We gotta back up! Fast!"

"Why?"

"Avalanche!"

Steve didn't respond. Not bothering to apply the brakes, he rotated the reverser backwards and shoved the throttle open. The six drive wheels immediately changed direction and speed. They spun wildly in reverse, the thin rubber tires squealing on the slippery rails. The train came to almost a complete stop before the wheels caught, lurching the train roughly backward.

Buford looked out the window again. "Hurry up, Dude!"

"The throttle's wide open! There isn't anything more I can do!"

The train picked up speed, aided by gravity now. The passenger cars began to rock side to side as the speedometer registered forty-five mph, and still climbing.

The avalanche showed no signs of slowing down. It was catching the train, too. The snow tossed a rock into the rotary plow, jamming it.

"We're gonna get crushed!" Steve said yelled.

"Hey, what about the tunnel?" Buford said excitedly.

"What about it?"  
"If we stop inside, the snow won't bury us."

Steve immediately put his hand on the brake. "Great idea! We should be almost on top of it, we just passed through it ten minutes ago."

The speedometer was nearing sixty-five miles per hour.

"I think you'd better do that thing with the reverser again to stop in the tunnel," Buford suggested quickly. "It's a long tunnel but it's not that long. We don't want to overshoot and get buried."

Steve nodded and shifted his hand to the reverser. He looked out his window on the right side of the cab at the fast approaching tunnel. Steve gripped the reverser wheel, prepared to throw the locomotive into forward gear to arrest it's backward momentum.

The instant the rear deck of the observation car broke the invisible vertical plane created by the stone tunnel portal, Steve wrenched the reverser around as far as it would go. The drive wheels skidded and started to spin forward as the train entered the tunnel, but then-

***_SHRIEK* _****BAM!**

The shriek sounded like metal being ripped apart. The train jolted hard, and Buford and Steve were both thrown off their feet, landing hard on the cab floor. The driving wheels locked up, strange considering the brakes were off and the throttle was wide open. The wheels whined as they slid on the cold steel rails.

Buford managed to pull himself up high enough to see out the window and looked backwards. There was no light outside to illuminate the tunnel portal, but there was enough contrast to see it. There was snow pouring over the tracks from the mountain side and from over the tunnel portal.

"We're gonna overshoot the tunnel!" he yelled.

"Like hell we are!" Steve screamed. He reached up an grasped the handle for the train's air brakes. He wrenched the lever down, and heard the ejector hiss as air flooded the brake hoses. The wheels on the baggage and observation cars locked, lighting up the dark tunnel with a shower of sparks as the train ground along the rails.

The train was still sliding along at fifteen mph when the last car smashed into the newly formed snow bank at the tunnel mouth. The train jolted to a stop almost instantly, throwing Steve and Buford roughly back to the floor.

But, they were alive.

* * *

To Candace, it felt like the train was slowing down. She looked out the window. The trees passing by outside were suddenly moving in the opposite direction.

"Uh, are we backing up?" she asked.

Everyone in the car quickly looked out the window.

"It would appear that we are," Ferb said.

The train was picking up speed. They were already going much faster than they had been going forward.

"What the heck are those two doing up there?" Django asked.

Trees were now flying by outside.

"Um, Phineas?" Candace said, suddenly worried. "We're going really fast."

Phineas had still been staring at the door that Isabella had exited through. Candace's words snapped him out of his trance-like state. "Don't worry, Candace. I'm sure everything's fine."

Isabella had walked into the baggage car and sat down on the floor, but the rough wooden floor was uncomfortable. So, she climbed into the time machine.

The time machine had been loaded into the baggage car before the start of their trip. It hadn't been secured in any way, but it was heavy enough to hold itself in place. She sat on the bench seat and held her head in her hands.

There were no windows in the baggage car, so Isabella had no idea when the train changed directions. She did, however, vaguely notice the locomotive was making a lot more noise and the car was rocking back and forth more.

The train raced back into the tunnel.

"I don't like this, Phineas," Candace moaned.

"Don't worry, Candace," Jeremy said, trying to calm her, "I'm sure everything's fine."

Abruptly, the entire train jolted. Baljeet gave a sharp cry of pain. The tunnel walls outside suddenly became dimly illuminated, the light seemingly coming from the bottom of the train. A grinding sound filled the train car.

As the sound started to fade and the train slowed near to a stop, Candace stood up, holding onto the back of the seat in front of her.

The train stuck the snow bank, jolting to a stop. The change in momentum threw Candace forward.

"OW!"

She struck her head on the light fixture that hung on the bottom of the overhead rack. The light broke free from its bracket, dangling down on the electric wires in front of the window. She put a hand to her head.

"You okay, sis? Phineas asked. He was rubbing his own head as well.

"Yeah…" she moaned.

Nearly everyone had been thrown from their seats by the sudden stop. As they picked themselves up off the floor, Stacy asked, "What just happened?"

"I don't know," Phineas said, "but I intend to find out."

* * *

Isabella heard the shriek and bang, but could only decipher that the sounds came from the direction of the locomotive. A loud whine was heard, and then a grind that sounded a bit like nails on a chalk board amplified 300%.

When the train came to an abrupt stop, Isabella let out a short scream. The time machine flipped over backward, flinging Isabella a few feet on to the floor, landing on her back.

"Ow." She rubbed her head and stood up.

Isabella glanced at the time machine. Though it hadn't hit the floor very hard, it was obvious that it had been damaged.

"That can't be good."

She stood and slowly walked to the door, heading back to the observation car.

* * *

Buford and Steve picked themselves up off the cab floor.

"You okay?" Steve asked.

"Banged my elbow pretty hard against the floor, but I'm good. You?"

"Hit the back of my head. I'll be fine." Steve rubbed the back of his head gingerly.

"What the heck happened when you threw the reverser?" Buford asked.

"I think the drivers locked. Can't imagine what would cause that. Unlike with classic cars, I'm not an expert on all the mechanics of steam locomotives."

Buford looked out the window for the umpteenth time. "Well," he said, "It's a good thing we stopped in the tunnel. The tracks ahead are buried. And we still managed to embed the observation car in the snow."

"Great."

Buford now looked forward.

"Uh, I think I know why the drive wheels locked."

"Yeah?"

Buford stood aside and motioned out the window. "See for yourself."

Steve walked over to the window and looked out at the front of the locomotive.

"Yeah…that's bad."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Baljeet gave a sharp cry of pain. He had hit his head hard against the back of the seat in front of him. He blacked out for a few moments.

After the train stopped, Ginger woke him up. "Baljeet? Wake up, Baljeet!"

Baljeet slowly opened his eyes. "Am I dead?"

Ginger suppressed a giggle. "No."

"You are right. I am in too much pain to be dead."

Ginger helped him sit up. He had slumped back into the seat. "You have a good reason to be in pain. You've got a good sized gash on your forehead," she told him.

Phineas walked back from his seat near the front of the car. "You okay, buddy?" he asked his friend.

"I suppose."

Ferb appeared at Phineas's side. "Ferb and I are going up to the engine to see what's going on," Phineas told the occupants of the car. "Why don't you ladies see what you can do about Baljeet's injury and the other guys can come with us?"

Jeremy, Coltrane and Django stood. "Right behind you, guys," Jeremy said.

"I'll come, too," said Adyson. "I was never much good at administering first aid, only at receiving it.

"I that case, I'm staying here," Irving said. "It's cold out there."

Everybody gave him a strange look.

"What?"

"Okay, we'll be back," Phineas said, and the guys left the car via the front vestibule.

No sooner had they left, Isabella crossed between the cars back to the observation car, not by design but by complete serendipity.

* * *

Perry gave Doofenshmirtz a death look.

"What's that look supposed to mean, Perry the Platypus?"

Perry dropped the blanket and ran out onto the front porch, Doof following behind. Perry pointed down the mountain at the now blocked tunnel entrance, anger on his face.

"What?"

Perry ran back inside and opened the closet. Inside, among Doofenshmirtz's various gear, were two pairs of snow shoes. He grabbed one pair and pulled them on. With his glider destroyed, this would be the easiest way to get down the mountain.

"Where are you going, Perry the Platypus?"  
Perry once again pointed down the mountain.

"Oh, I get it. You want to check on the passengers and crew of that train to see if they're okay."

Perry nodded. He grabbed a scarf that hung from a hook and wrapped it around his neck. He shut the closet door, grabbed his dry fedora from above the mantel, and headed for the door again.

"Wait, Perry the Platypus," Doofenshmirtz said. Perry stopped and looked back at his nemesis. "I can't let you go wandering around the mountain in this weather all alone. I'll come with you." He began dressing in his snow gear from the closet. "We may be nemesisisis…or is it nemeses?…but you're still my best friend and I got your back."

Perry smiled. Maybe there was some good in Doofenshmirtz after all.

Doof joined him on the porch and locked the door behind him. He handed two small metal cylinders to Perry. "For protection," he explained. "Who knows what kind of dangerous supernatural creatures may be walking around in these woods. You just press the button on the side to activate it."

Perry tucked the two cylinders under his hat. Doof had one of his own that he stuck under his belt. Then, they set off down the mountain, trudging through the thick snow and shivering from the freezing rain.

* * *

The tunnel was incredibly dark. With only moonlight to shine through the tiny tunnel portal, Phineas, Ferb, Jeremy, Coltrane, Django and Adyson walked with caution. The tunnel was quite narrow, as well. It had been built so a train would just fit through it, so there was only about four feet of walking room between the train and the wall.

The six friends found Buford and Steve standing next to the 3 huge driving wheels on the left side of the Pacific locomotive. The engine was hissing steam from every valve, almost as if in pain. Both were holding lanterns that they had found in the cab, casting dim, glowing yellow orbs around both men. Steve was looking at the side of the engine, muttering disgustedly to himself.

"Hey guys! What's going on up here?" Phineas yelled. "Baljeet and Candace both hit their heads!"

"Which is weird, 'cause usually I'm the one who gets hurt," Adyson said.

"I thought you knew what you're doing, Steve," Phineas continued.

Buford spoke up before Steve could answer. "He does know what he's doing. He saved all our lives! There was an avalanche! We had to run away from it and stop inside this tunnel to avoid getting' crushed!"

"At the cost of the locomotive," Steve said morbidly.

"What do you mean?" Coltrane asked.

"See for yourself." Steve and Buford backed up and let the others step forward to see the side of the locomotive.

"I don't know much about trains," Django said, "But that doesn't look good."

"It's not," Steve said, beginning his explanation. "The side rod completely sheered in half. The front half got thrown up under the boiler plate by the piston and wedged, which locked the wheels up. I'm actually kinda surprised that the wheels locking didn't crack the side rod on the other side. The connecting rod has completely disappeared, the bolts that hold the side rod on broke off the center wheel…It's a mess."

"Yeah, that looks difficult to fix."

"Well, as near as I can tell, the wheels are okay and the boiler wasn't punctured. It'll still hold boiler pressure and still roll if we can dislodge the side rod from under the boiler plate and get it disconnected from the piston…and seal off the piston…then we can make it back down the mountain on one cylinder."

"Um…as much as I hate to just leave this train in the middle of the line, especially in a tunnel…I don't think we can stay here. We don't have proper cold weather gear, or the tools to do this easily," Phineas said. "What we do have is a time machine. I think it would be better…safer for us…if we just left the time period and went home."

Steve sighed. "You're probably right. I mean, the tunnel is completely blocked by snow on this end, and I'm sure it's blocked on the other end, plus the train is partially sticking out of the portal here. I guess it isn't too dangerous."

"Plus," said Ferb, "Even if we fix the train, the plow is on the front."  
"Ferb's right," Buford said. "There's no way we have enough toque to push the plow though all that snow on the other end of the tunnel on one cylinder, and it's physically impossible to move the plow to the back."

Steve took a quick jog up past the engine, the plow's oil tender and the plow car itself. "Doesn't matter," he called back, his voice echoing through the tunnel. "The fan is jammed. Even if it was possible to put the plow behind the observation car, which it isn't, it's useless now."

He jogged back.

"Then it's settled,' Phineas said. "We'll return to our own present time right away. Let's go prepare the time machine, Ferb."

They left the group and climbed into the baggage car. Steve continued to look over the damaged locomotive, muttering to himself.

A few moments later, the group returned. "Steve?" Phineas asked.

"Yeah?"

"We better get to work. We need to get this thing rolling again."

"Why the change of heart?"

Phineas and Ferb hung their heads. "The time machine flipped over. It's damaged pretty bad. We brought tools with us, but no spare parts. We're going to have to get to a town where we can get materials and parts to fix it."

"Oh, great," Buford cried out. "Just great. How are we going to fix this thing?"

Everyone was silent for a minute.

"Okay, look," Steve spoke up. "All we need to fix the engine is a really big adjustable wrench, something that can cut through two inch-thick metal, and some muscle. I'm not sure how to seal off the piston, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Those things, we have," Phineas said. "Ferb never goes anywhere without his portable arc welder."

"You have a portable arc welder?"

Ferb pulled a small box from his pocket and pulled out a tiny rip chord. The little cube exploded and a full size arc welder appeared on the floor.

"A plasma cutter would be better, but it'll do the job," Ferb said.

"Okay," Steve said. "I can work with that. Now, obviously, we'll be way better off trying to go down the mountain than up. Less snow behind and gravity to help, we won't have to pull the weight of the consist. However, we still need something to get through the snow that _is _behind us."

"Hmm," Phineas thought hard. "Well, maybe we could scalp some parts from the ruined rotary plow, brake hoses and other non-essential parts and build a blower system. We could connect it to the piston on this side of the engine since there will no longer be side rods connected to it. Then, since we won't have to worry about sealing it off, we can utilize it instead. The blower system will funnel hot steam from the boiler, and we'll build a pipeline to send it out under the rear observation deck to melt the snow behind us."

"That sounds good," Steve said. "You guys work on that, Buford and I will get to work on fixing this mess."

"Okay," Phineas agreed. "Jeremy, why don't you and Django come with us. Adyson and Coltrane can stay here and help Steve and Buford."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's get to work!" Phineas cheered.

Ferb nudged his shoulder.

"Oh, sorry. Ferb, I know what we're gonna to do today!"

The team broke up. Ferb and Jeremy disappeared inside the large plow car in search of parts, Ferb using a surprisingly bright keychain flashlight for illumination. Phineas and Django headed for the baggage car to fetch Ferb's tools from the time machine.

"What do you want me to do?" Coltrane asked.

"Actually, I think Buford and Adyson are all the help I'll need," Steve said. "But, there is something really important you could do. Could you climb up in the cab and keep the fire up so we don't have to re-fire the boiler when we're done? You don't have to go nuts shoveling in coal, just keep the fire going."

"Sure, I can do that," Coltrane said. "My name is, after all, Coltrane. You know, like coal train? If coal were being used as a verb?"

"Sure…I'm gonna go back to the baggage car and see what exactly Phineas and Ferb have planned for their little construction project. I want to make sure it won't upset the train turning and changing grades."

"Roger that."

"I'm gonna go tell everyone in the back what's going on up here," Adyson said. She followed Steve toward the back of the train as Coltrane climbed up the ladder to the cab.

Buford was left alone in the tunnel, with only his lantern for company. He strolled up to the front of the locomotive. Thinking it might help, he grabbed the coupler bar on the snow plow and lifted it, opening the knuckle coupler. He did the same on the engine's front coupler, each sending a loud clang echoing through the tunnel.

Buford picked up his lantern from the floor and stepped out from between the cars, figuring he would hop up in the cab with Coltrane to stay warm until Steve and Adyson came back.

He froze.

Standing perfectly still in the thin moonlit sliver of the tunnel portal between the side of the observation car and the wall was a figure. It was extremely tall, at least ten feet, extremely thin, and appeared to be dressed in a well-tailored black suit with a white shirt. It looked humanoid, but its arms were disproportionately long. They stretched almost all the way to the ground. It also had eight tentacle-like appendages originating from a central point on its back. But by far, the strangest feature was the thing's face: it had none. It's head lacked any facial features; eyes, nose, mouth, and hair were all absent.

Buford stared at it for nearly twenty seconds, his eyes so wide they were close to popping out of their sockets. Every fiber of his being was telling him to run. He took a few hesitant steps backwards. It didn't move. He continued walking backwards, unable to move his eyes from the thing in the tunnel mouth, until he was ten feet past the front of the rotary plow. Now that the tunnel was plenty wide, he turned and ran.

Tirelessly, Buford ran on the cross ties between the rails. A few times, a misstep caused Buford to catch the edge of a tie with his foot and trip and fall. He refused to look back, though. He would just quickly stand back up and keep running.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he reached the other end of the tunnel, which was blocked floor to roof with snow. Panting for breath, he sat down on a large rock that the avalanche had pushed into the tunnel. He greatly wished that he could squeeze out of the tunnel past the snow, but the portal was completely blocked.

Buford stood and turned back around to face the tunnel's maw. Five feet away, silhouetted against the distant headlight of the Pacific steam locomotive, was the thing.

Buford was about to scream, but he was cut off as it reached for him.

Then his vision went dark as he blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Stacy backed away from the window. "Did anybody else see something out there?"

Ginger and Isabella were wrapping a bandage around Baljeet's head while Jenny examined the bruise on Candace's forehead. Irving had fallen asleep on his laptop. Adyson was on her way out of the car, crossing to the baggage car.

"It was probably just one of the guys," Isabella said.

"I don't think so…it was-"

"How ya feeling, Baljeet?" Ginger said, ignoring her sister.

"I feel like I hit my head against a well-secured piece of oak."

"Well, you should, because that's exactly what happened." Ginger forced Baljeet to lay down across the seat. Baljeet moaned.

"Actually, I think that's cedar," Jenny said.

"How are you, Candace?" Isabella asked.

"Fine, I guess."

"Seriously, guys, there was something out there," Stacy insisted, but no one was paying any attention to her.

"Isabella," Jenny asked, "what happened between you and Phineas earlier?"

As Isabella began to spill out her feelings to the girls, Stacy looked back out the window. She did see Phineas and Django crouched down next to the rear truck outside with a tape measure, but whatever she had seen before was gone.

* * *

Steve and Adyson returned to the engine, Steve carrying a long four-inch adjustable wrench over his shoulder, protective gloves and a face shield.

"Hey, where's Buford?" Adyson asked.

"I don't know," Steve replied. "Buford?" he called out. "Buford!"

"Coltrane?" Adyson called up to the cab.

The bass player stuck his head out the window. "'Sup?"

"Do you know where Buford went?"

"Can't say I do. Sorry." He leaned back inside.

"Well, I'm sure he'll come back," Steve said. He wheeled the arc welder into position below the wedged side rod. "We don't need him to cut this off, anyway."

Ferb had modified the welder to be able to work anywhere, whether a power source was available or not. Steve pulled on the gloves and mask, then fired up the welder and started heating the metal rod near its connection to the piston. The arc welder doesn't cut like a plasma cutter, it just melts the metal, so he would have to very carefully melt all the way through the side rod.

* * *

Meanwhile, Phineas and Django were lying on the rail bed beneath the observation car, building a vent that hung below the observation deck. A large, powerful fan, connected to the rear-most axle by an elaborate system of gears would spin the fan incredibly fast. The fan would shoot steam from the pipe system, which was yet to be constructed, out from under the car to melt the snow. As long as the train was moving, the fan would spin.

Jeremy and Ferb appeared with a vast assortment of hoses and pipes taken from the ruined rotary plow motor.

"How are we going to make this system flex so the train can turn corners?" Jeremy asked.

"We'll just have to use hoses to connect the pipes between the cars and leave enough slack that they can stretch," Phineas responded. "We're almost done here, and then we can start hanging these pipes and such below the cars up to the engine. Hopefully, by the time we reach the engine, Steve, Buford and Adyson will be done with their repairs."

* * *

It was thirty minutes later when Phineas, Ferb, Jeremy and Django crawled out from under the tender, having hung their last undercarriage pipe.

"How you guys doing?" Phineas asked Steve and Adyson.

Steve was red in the face, teeth gritted, pulling as hard as he could on the huge wrench. The bolt that held the side rod to the rear most driving wheel was between the jaws of the wrench.

"We're doing alright," Adyson said.

Suddenly, the wrench slipped off. Steve fell forward and crashed into Adyson, knocking both of them to the ground.

"Sorry, Adyson."

Django said, "Hey, where's-"

"Buford?" Steve finished for him. "We've been wondering the same thing for the last forty-five minutes."

"Huh," Jeremy said. "I wonder where he is."

"Maybe he had to answer nature's call," Ferb suggested.

"For forty-five minutes?"

"Good point."

"Well, I'm sure he'll turn up eventually," Phineas said, "Like Perry. Now, we have to bring this pipe line up, out from under the tender and along the side of the engine."

"Great!" Steve said. "I just gotta get this extremely stubborn bolt off and this part is done. That didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would."

"And then we hook the pipe to the piston and we're good to go," Phineas said.

"Alright. Adyson," Steve said. "Do you know how to weld?"

"I got my Arc Welder Patch three years ago," she said proudly. "And I only spent two weeks in the hospital."

"Say what now?"

"Yes, I can weld."

"Good. Can you get a little piece of metal and run an air-tight weld around it over that hole inside the piston? The hole connects the top and bottom cylinders, I'm not sure what it's called, I just know it has to be sealed off for this system to work."

"Sure, I can do that." Adyson beamed and ran off to do so. The others set back to work on the pipe system.

And the entire time, Jeremy could not shake the feeling that he was being watched.

**Is anybody else as happy as I am that Adyson has finally made an appearance in this series? She is fun to write for, even if she has only had, like a dozen lines. I hope I can find ways to incorporate her more. She's the only Fireside Girl (besides, obviously, Isabella) that I really like. I only kept Ginger in the story because she and Baljeet have that whole chemistry thing going on, as was revealed further in "Bee Story."**

**Anyway, hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please, I'm still begging, review me!**

**Also, this is probably the only time I'll ever do an author's note in the middle of the story. I just wanted to say something about Adyson before…well, if I told you why I had to do it now, I would give away the rest of the story.**

**Click the "Next" button! Chapter 6 awaits!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jeremy and Ferb grabbed the adjustable wrench together with Steve, and, pulling in unison, they were able to get the last bolt out. Adyson managed to seal off the lower cylinder without burning her skin, but the bottom of her shirt caught fire from the sparks because she forgot to wear the leather apron. Ferb saved her by tackling her to the ground and snuffing out the fire in a puddle of water that had formed where melted snow dripped off the headlight.

Phineas and Django ran a pipe along the boiler plate, securing it with big pop rivets and metal straps. They connected it to the pipe under the tender with two brake hoses taken from the snow plow cars. The other end was extended to the piston with the only elbow pipes Ferb and Jeremy had scalped and welded together by Adyson. Steve praised her welding skills, saying she was better at it than he was. Finally, Ferb jury rigged some mechanical controls in the cab that would control the steam to the blower system.

Finally, all was ready. According to Ferb's chronometer, which automatically changed when they traveled through time, it was 3:02 a.m., March 1, 1910.

Coltrane climbed down from the cab. Still unable to locate Buford but too caught up in the moment to remember that he was missing, Ferb replaced the bully as the fireman, which made sense since he would also have to operate the "Snow Melter 2700" as Phineas had dubbed it.

Phineas briefly disappeared, and when he returned, he held a pair of walkie-talkies.

"Where'd you get those?" Adyson asked.

"Irving had them in his bag of stuff," Phineas replied. "He's asleep, so he doesn't know I have them. Now, one person should go stand on the observation deck with one of these, and we'll give the other one to Ferb and Steve. That way, the person on the back can tell Steve how fast or slow he can go based on how fast the snow melts."

"Right," Steve said, taking one radio from Phineas. "Because if it's deeper in some places, it'll take longer to melt, and we'll have to slow to let the melter catch up."

"By my calculations, you should keep the speed between ten and six miles per hour, unless the snow becomes deeper or thinner," Ferb said, producing a pad of paper where he had shown his work.

"Baljeet would be proud, bro," Phineas said. "Now, who wants to stand on the deck and talk to Steve? I'd do it, but I think I need to try to patch things up with Isabella."

"I'll do it," Jeremy said. "I don't mind the cold. I'm from Wisconsin, after all."

Phineas handed Jeremy the walkie-talkie. "Godspeed, gentlemen," he said to Steve, Ferb and Jeremy. "The rest of us better get back on board."

"As per railroad regulation, I'll give the whistle three short blasts before moving backward," Steve said.

"Roger that."

* * *

Phineas, Django, Adyson, Coltrane and Jeremy climbed back into the observation car between the two passenger cars. While the others took their seats, Jeremy gave Candace, his fiancé, a quick kiss, and headed out the back door to the observation platform.

The radio crackled in his hand. _"Are ya ready, Jeremy?" _Steve's voice said.

Jeremy depressed the button and responded. "I'm ready when you are."

In the cab, Ferb turned on the steam flow to their pipeline. Jeremy watched as the snow ten feet behind the train quickly melted, revealing the two ribbons of steel beneath.

_"Okay, the steam flow is on. How's it working?"_

"It works perfectly, guys!" he said into the radio. "Now just back it up real slow." The deep throaty whistle blasted out three times, resonating through the narrow Cascade Tunnel.

"Please, please, please, please, please…" Steve whispered to himself.

With extreme caution, as if afraid the lever would break off in his hand, Steve released the brakes, praying that the locomotive would roll. The ejector hissed and the air escaped the brake lines. At first, nothing happened. Steve hesitantly opened the throttle a fraction of an inch.

The 67 inch driving wheels began to turn, driven only by the right drive rods and piston. The speedometer barely registered, but they were moving. Leaving the useless rotary snow plow behind, the train slid out of the tunnel into the moonlight.

_"You can give it a little bit more speed," _Jeremy's voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.

"Don't rush me!" Steve practically yelled. Jeremy didn't hear him though. He hadn't depressed the button.

Steve pulled open the throttle a little more. The speedometer slowly climbed until it reached six miles per hour.

_"Good,"_ Jeremy said. _"No more than that. In fact, just let it coast."_

"A train is always referred to as a 'she,' just like a ship or a plane or a car or Irving's UPAFDS," Steve responded as he shut off steam.

_"Irving's what now?"_

"Never mind."

* * *

For half an hour, they talked back and forth, speeding up and slowing down according to Jeremy's observations, during which time Steve's hand never left the throttle. Ferb had to work hard shoveling to keep the steam pressure up, since the blower system made the locomotive use more steam than before. Finally, Jeremy's voice broke through the radio static.

_"I think we're all clear, guys. The snow has thinned out. I think we've passed the furthest reaches of the avalanche."_

"Awesome!" Steve replied. "Thanks for standing out there in the cold for us."

_"No problem. Just keep it about the speed you're at_ (which was about fifteen miles per hour) _And I think you'll be fine."_

"Great. Come on in and warm up. You've earned it."

_"Thanks guys."_

Jeremy was freezing. The wind, though not strong, was frigid. His lips were very chapped and he had long since lost all feeling in his face.

He reached for the door and was about to pull it open when something caught his eye. Standing in the deep snow, among the thick trees about 50 feet from the tracks, was a very tall, very thin, dark figure, that appeared to lack a face and had tentacles growing from its back.

At first, Jeremy thought his eyes must be playing tricks on him. _That is one weird looking tree,_ he thought. He watched it until the train passed through a small ridge that blocked…whatever it was…from Jeremy's line of sight.

"Huh," Jeremy said aloud. He turned back to the door and saw something of the corner of his eye, on the opposite side of the train from where he had seen the figure. He turned to look.

It was standing right there next to him.

"What the-!"

And then everything went black.

* * *

Phineas had been sitting next to Isabella since climbing back aboard the train. Isabella had looked at him with a somewhat peeved expression, which Phineas replied with a nervous smile. She did not say anything. She only returned her attention to the window. Phineas sat down, and Isabella did not object, but she did not acknowledge his presence, either.

For the past half hour, Phineas had been thinking hard, playing out various situations in his head, trying to figure out what the best thing to say to her was. And, for about the millionth time, Phineas tried to figure out his feelings for Isabella. Did he love her?

Finally, he opened his mouth and allowed words to escape. "Isabella?"

She turned to look at him. She no longer looked angry, but she did look very forlorn.

"Isabella, I-"

And then, things seemed to happen all at once.

Candace pulled open the rear door, expecting to see her fiancé standing there in the cold. Instead, she found the observation deck deserted.

"Guys?" she said, panic in her voice, "Where's Jeremy?"

Everyone turned to look, almost not understanding her question, having to see it to believe it. (Except for Irving, who was still asleep, and Baljeet who had dozed off some time ago.) Sure enough, the rear platform was empty.

Candace stepped out into the freezing winter air, the wind gusting around under the overhang in great swirls. She frantically looked around, hoping for some clue as to Jeremy's location. She found the walkie-talkie on the hard wood planking in the corner, coated with a thin layer of snow. She picked it up, the panic suddenly gripping her like a vice.

"Oh my GOD! What if he fell off? What if he got run over? What if he's lying on the tracks, clinging to life, freezing to death in the snow?" she screamed. She pressed the button on the walkie-talkie. "Steve! You have to stop the train! Jeremy's gone!"

_"What do you mean 'he's gone?' How could he be gone? I just talked to him two minutes ago!"_

"I don't know! I think he fell off the back!" Candace yelled into the radio. "Just stop the train!"

"Candace, I think you're over reacting," Jenny said.

"As usual," Stacy quipped. Something outside caught her attention.

"We have to go back and look for him!" Candace yelled at her friends. The squeal of the brakes coming on punctuated her outburst.

As the train smoothly came to a halt, everyone (who was awake) stood. Everyone, that is, except for Stacy.

"Uh, guys?" she said nervously, "Look." She pointed out the window.

"Not now, Stacy!" Candace yelled. "We have to find Jeremy!"

"No, now! It's the thing I saw in the tunnel earlier, and I don't like the way it looks!"

Everyone looked out the window, and there it was. Fifty feet away from the train stood a very tall, very thin, dark man with extremely long arms, tentacles growing from it's back, and no face.

The panic in Candace's voice changed. It was suddenly cold and scared. "What is that?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Phineas said.

"Which is weird," Isabella said, "because usually you know everything about everything. Except of course for-"

Adyson interrupted her. "Well whatever it is, it's creepin' me out!" Adyson said.

"I think you picked a bad place to make Steve stop the train," Coltrane said to Candace.

Behind them, Irving yawned and stretched as he woke up. He winced at the pain in his neck from sleeping on his computer and stood.

"Hey guys, whatcha lookin' at?"

"That," Isabella said, pointing.

Irving instantly froze when he saw it. "O. M. G. Don't anybody avert your eyes!" Irving urged. "Keep looking at it!"

And, of course, everyone turned away from it to face him.

"Why?" Candace asked, worried.

"NOOOOO! You all looked away! You've doomed us all!" Irving yelled. He frantically scanned the woods outside, but could not find it.

Nobody was paying attention enough to notice, but there was a whoosh of air somewhere outside. Just after, the train started rolling backwards, very slowly, and sluggishly accelerating.

"Why, what's the big deal?" Django asked.

"Because now he's gone!"

"Weren't you looking at it?" Jenny said.

"I blinked when you guys turned around!"

"Hey, not to change the subject," Phineas said, "but has anyone noticed that Buford's been missing since we started repairing the train?"

"Oh no!" Irving said. "Buford's missing?"

Phineas started, "Yeah-"

"And so is Jeremy!" Candace yelled.

Irving suddenly became very quiet. "We need to get out of here _now_. Come on, to the time machine!"

"Can't." Phineas said. "It's damaged. We need parts to fix it."

Irving dropped to the ground and assumed a fetal position. "We're all gonna die, we're all gonna die, we're all gonna die, we're all gonna die, we're all gonna die, we're all gonna-"

"Irving, get a grip," Django said.

"No. It's too late. He's seen us and we've seen him. We have seconds to live, at this point, I'd say," Irving whispered.

"What?" Phineas asked, confused. "Who's seen us?"

He never got an answer.

Eight of the Pullman coach's windows shattered, four on each side. Everyone screamed, except Baljeet, who was somehow still asleep. A black tentacle snaked through each broken window.

Irving yelled, "He's come!"

* * *

Steve braked the train to a stop as gently as he could, trying not to place too much force on any of the already stressed steel. The brake calipers squealed loudly as air forced them to squeeze the rotors on the wheels. When the train stopped, the valves let off excess air rather loudly. Though an inanimate object, Steve still thought the engine actually sounded pained.

"Whew!" Steve said, wiping his brow. "I really hope we don't have to stop this thing again until we reach a town where we can fix the time machine. I'm not sure she'll survive another stop like that."

Ferb tossed another scoop of coal into the firebox and released the pedal that opened the firebox doors. He then proceeded to check his gauges.

"That's one thing I admire about you, Ferb," Steve said. "Nothing fazes you. You just do what you have to and…like…tune out everything that isn't really important."

To his surprise, Ferb responded. "It's necessary when Phineas Flynn is your brother."

Steve laughed. "Good point." He stood from his seat. "Where could Jeremy have possibly gone? I don't think he could have fallen off the observation deck. He must have come back inside and no one saw him."

Ferb nodded. He threw in another shovel full of coal.

"Should we go back there?" Steve asked. "Or would that just be a waste of time?"

Ferb shrugged. He threw a quick glance down the side of the train, but saw nothing. He looked at Steve. Steve shrugged. Ferb turned around to descend the ladder.

The green-haired boy stopped when an almost deafening whoosh of air filled the cab.

"What the heck was that?" Steve asked.

Ferb felt the train moving. He quickly clambered back into the cab.

"Are we moving?" Steve asked.

Ferb nodded. "I believe the compressor has failed," he said.

The train's movement was barely noticeable, pulled backward only by gravity. It accelerated very slowly. Steve pushed up the brake handle that would have released the air brakes if they had been functioning properly, then pulled it back down again.

Nothing happened.

"Yup. Brakes are dead. Let's hope the locomotive brake still works."

Steve pulled on another lever. This one would apply only the brakes on the locomotive. These brakes are mechanical and do not rely on air at all. Considering that the only weight pulling them down were two passenger cars, it should have been enough to stop the train.

It should have, if the handle had not broken off.

"Gah!" Steve looked at the broken handle in his hand. Then he looked at Ferb, who looked back. "Is this engine cursed, or does it just not like me?"

Ferb shrugged. Steve was about to respond when a faint noise caused both men to freeze.

"Did you just hear glass shatter?" Steve asked.

Ferb nodded.

"And then a bunch of people screaming like a little girl?"

Ferb nodded.

Steve looked out the window, but the train was rounding a bend and he could not see any of the train behind him, not even the tender. So, Steve slid back the vent in the cab roof, which was really more like a small sunroof than a vent. He slid the storage crate that had contained the lanterns earlier under the vent and climbed up on top of it, poking his head out through the hole.

"Uh, Ferb? I think you'd better get up here and see this."

Ferb climbed up on the box next to Steve and squeezed his own head through the hole.

Standing on the roof of the observation car was a very tall, very thin man clad in a dark suit. His extremely long arms were holding onto the sides of the car's roof, and the tentacles growing from it's back were extended in through the broken windows. Screams could be heard coming from inside the observation car.

"Holy Mary, Mother of GOD…" Steve made the sign of the cross over his chest. "What the heck is that thing?!"

Calm, cool, and collected as always, with no emotion in his voice, Ferb simply answered, "It would seem that Slenderman has found us."

_**To be continued…**_

**Cliff hanger! This was going to be longer and the next story shorter, but I decided to end it here to keep you all wondering while I write episode 7, which will contain the rest of the story that was going to be here. I'm just warning you right now, if you're scared now, don't read the next story. If you are scared but you just "gots to know" what's gonna happen, make sure it's daylight before you continue. This story is freaking ****_me_**** out, and I wrote it!**

**By the way, that is the correct use of the word "faze." It's not grammatically correct to say "nothing ****_phases_**** you."**

**I really hope you'll all come back for episode 7 of P&F Industries. This is usually the part where I give my readers a preview of the next story, like the title for instance. Unfortunately, I can't even do that because the title itself would give away part of the plot! (I will say this, the car reference in the title will be back.) But, you gotta see what's gonna happen! I mean, where's Buford and Jeremy? What's gonna happen to the gang? They're under attack by Slenderman, for cryin' out loud! And what about Perry and Doofenshmirtz? We haven't seen them since the beginning of chapter 4!**

**I'll bet that none of you saw the P&F Industries series taking this kind of drastic turn, and I guarantee that you won't foresee how this story is going to end!**

**Don't forget to review me (please), and especially let me know what you think of adding Adyson and Ginger (mostly Adyson). Maybe you should consider following me so that you'll know when the next story is posted. (Just a thought.)**

**I'll write the next story as fast as I can so you guys (All twelve of you) aren't held in suspense for too long.**

**Sincerely,**

**EDD17SP**


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